


Shot in the Dark

by highchvrch



Series: DS9 One-Shots [1]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Post-Canon Cardassia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 01:56:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18539956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/highchvrch/pseuds/highchvrch
Summary: Julian has a night terror, and to Garak's credit, he only flinches a little.





	Shot in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for my friend but I decided that I'd make it my first post on this account! If you wanna see me draw cardassians and ramble a lot, my twitter is @highchvrch !!

Garak awoke to the sheets thrashing next to him. He was a light sleeper by nature, he always had been, and so the moment Julian began to cry out and jerk, he was there. He pet the top of Julian’s hair gently, scales pressing against his sweaty forehead. “My dear,” he murmured gently, voice scratchy from sleep. “It’s alright.” He pushed his curls back, moving his hand lower until he reached the nape of his neck where he could rubs circles with his knuckles against the smooth skin there. Julian only moved away from this, however, flinching like he had been burned. His eyes were now open, but it was clear by the way his pupils rapidly moved that he couldn’t really see. Garak sighed, raising his voice slightly, “Darling.” He attempted to gently guide Bashir’s thrashing body into his arms. He had heard the doctor telling a patient’s distraught wife to do the same when her husband was having similar night terrors, so he had since used it to his advantage. However, this time it did not go as planned, as it had gone every other night.

To his credit, Garak only winced a little when he felt the barrel of the phaser against his jaw. This hadn’t been the first time he had had a weapon biting into his skin and this would no doubt be the last; but his eyes betrayed what was beneath his calm exterior. Julian's arm shook, and Garak traced every little twitch of his finger near the trigger with a sharp gaze. He was panting and his eyes were unfocused, and Garak really didn’t want to do what he knew he might have to. “Julian,” he tried quietly, and he told himself the only thing stopping him from grabbing Julian’s arm and moving the phaser himself was how small and vulnerable the doctor was. Julians free hand was grasping the bedsheet tightly, knuckles turning pale. Garak hesitantly moved a hand towards his lover’s face, careful not to touch but simply hover instead. He repeated his name, softer, because he doesn’t know what else he could tell him when Julian was just looking through him like that. Most of Julian’s words were unintelligible, but a few soft pleads of “no” littered the broken sentences here and there, and Garak refused to admit to himself that his heart was breaking at the sight, that he still hadn’t removed the phaser only out of pity and not because he was scared, because the idea of hurting Julian after so many years no longer came easy to him anymore. 

And as suddenly as the phaser is there, it’s gone, and Julians eyes shift and adjust and the shaking worsens as the weapon is dropped precariously onto the sheets. “Oh.” Garak doesn’t need to tell Julian what happened, Julian already knows. He backs away slightly, as much as he can in the bed they’re sitting on, and tears are already starting to fall down his cheeks, his nose, his chin. “Oh, N-No, I,” he begins to hyperventilate and all at once Garak is there to bring him into his arms, despite Bashir’s attempts to refuse and move away. “Elim,” is the only thing he can manage at this point, and he whispers it hoarsely over and over, like a prayer that what he just did will go away if he prays hard enough. He clings to the Cardassian tightly like he’s the only thing tethering him to reality and maybe at this point he is.

“My flower,” Garak murmurs in Kardasi into Julian’s ear, his face turned away to hide the few tears that Garak hates himself for allowing. He rocks his doctor back and forth slowly, watching over him until the sun peaks its way over the hills hours later.

**Author's Note:**

> "Flower" because of the orchids, get it?


End file.
